Cape Muzon is a cape located in the Alexander Archipelago

Alexander Archipelago

The Alexander Archipelago is a long archipelago, or group of islands, of North America off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep channels and fjords separate the...

 of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. It is the southernmost point of Dall Island

Dall Island

Dall Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago off the southeast coast of Alaska, just west of Prince of Wales Island and north of Canadian waters. Its peak elevation is 2,443 feet above sea level. Its land area is 254.02 square miles , making it the 28th largest island in the United States...

 and the headland marking the northwestern extremity of the Dixon Entrance

Dixon Entrance

The Dixon Entrance is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the International Boundary between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. It was named by Joseph Banks for Captain George Dixon, a Royal Navy officer, fur trader, and explorer, who...

. The boundary line separating Alaska from Canada runs very close to Cape Muzon, although according to the Alaska Boundary Treaty Cape Muzon is defined precisely as the western end of the so-called A-B Line, part of the Canada – United States border.

The name comes from Jacinto Caamaño

Jacinto Caamaño

Jacinto Caamaño Moraleja was the leader of the last great Spanish exploration of Alaska and the Coast of British Columbia. He was a Knight of the Military Order of Calatrava. Born in Madrid, he came from an aristocratic Galician family, whose homestead was near Santiago de Compostela...

, who named it Cabo de Muñoz in 1792. George Vancouver

George Vancouver

Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...

 adopted Caamaño's place names and apparently transposed two letters, making Muzon. In 1787 George Dixon called it Cape Pitt. It has been known by other names such as Cape Irving, Kaigani, Caiganee, and Kygane. Its native name was published in Russian as Mys Kaygany by Captain Tebenkov in 1852.

See also

• List of areas disputed by Canada and the United States
• Alaska boundary dispute
  Alaska Boundary Dispute
  The Alaska boundary dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and Canada . It was resolved by arbitration in 1903. The dispute had been going on between the Russian and British Empires since 1821, and was inherited by the United States as a consequence of the Alaska Purchase in...